Aliens: My Alien, Daeus

Chapter Fourteen

Edited: 5-20-24

Daeus's POV

Void managed to stay calm on the way back home, which surprised me. Of course he didn't look around and I noticed how he kept his eyes on the sky, but I'd say not freaking out was a plus. A part of me expected him to take off into the sky, but I didn't even know if he could fly. He was a water-based hybrid, even his scales were waterproof. I was only thankful that he seemed to be progressing well so soon and that showed significant signs of a higher level of thinking.

When we got back, I sat him down, expecting him to immediately want back up, but he calmly observed the empty house. My division would be staying at a communal home until I felt Void was ready to meet them. It would be different and slightly saddening not to have them around, Ehkad are social by nature, but I had Void for now and he would always be enough.

"Go explore," I told Void, hoping that he would familiarize himself with the house. If he had a familiar place he could call home, it should make him feel better mentally. When he turned and looked up at me, I scolded myself for remembering he couldn't understand me. Even though humans might have a third of our intelligence, they wouldn't be able to speak our language. I made a shooing motion and spoke again. "Go on, go explore the house." Even though he couldn't understand me, it was a good habit to reinforce motions and gestures with words.

I could see the panic right before Void darted closer to me and latched onto my front leg. Both of his legs and arms were wrapped around my leg. I sighed as I picked that leg up and walked effortlessly on my other three legs over to the computer desk. I hoped he hadn't thought I was trying to get rid of him, but I knew that that was probably the case. My motions had probably made him think I was trying to make him go away and that's not something I wanted him to think. When I sat down, he let go and I watched as he crawled between my front legs and sat sheltered under me with his wings spread out and his back resting against my stomach.

"I guess you can stay there," I said, smiling.

This week would be focused on training. I needed to be sure that Void understood certain things to help ease his life here. I could train him simple gestures that would let me know what he's wanting and teach him some commands so that he knows what I want him to do in certain situations that involves a bit more guidance than hoping for the best.

First, I needed to order a collar and harness. I didn't need to take Void's measurements as I had the notes from the first time he was examined. I already knew the person I needed to contact so it wasn't hard getting her the information and I was pleasantly surprised when she got back to me almost right away.

Camio: I haven't heard from you in a while little brother . . .

Daeus: I was under the impression that father and mother wanted nothing to do with me, but that's not why I'm messaging you.

Camio: Then why? We (your sisters) miss you baby bro,

Daeus: Sure, Camio. Be serious, I need your help.

Camio: My help? Surely my baby bro can do everything on his own. I mean, that is what you told father and mother before you rudely left to join Ceasur's section. You act like you don't have a right to be in this family, but you do . . . Fine, what is it that you want?

Daeus: I need you create a collar and harness for me. A leash as well. I've got my Bond and I want the best for him. I've sent you the measurements in an email.

Camio: Yeah, yeah. I saw the email. I'll get you what you need. Free of charge. It'll be there tomorrow. Love you baby bro, remember that

Daeus didn't respond to his eldest sister's final message. He never understood why his sisters had insisted he stay at the castle when his own parents didn't want him there. But, Camio was the best at her line of work and the fastest, not to mention she owned most of the pet accessory manufacturing buildings in more than just the Hornet Kingdom.

Shutting the computer off, I looked under me to see that Void was calmly watching me and he smiled when I looked at him. Reaching with my two lower hands, I gently pulled him out from under me and stood up. Holding him in one spot in front of me, I made sure I had his attention before I let go. First, I needed to train him on simple commands one might use on a canine. Simple things such as sit, stay, and come.

I started off slow as I worked on training. It was easy to get him to understand the 'come' command as when I moved my hand towards me and said the word, he watched my hand twice before he walked up to me, smiling and it wasn't too hard to get him to follow the sit and stay commands as well. I didn't have treats to give him, but my praise seemed to be enough to make his face light up with a wide, toothy smile.

This would be easy.

****

It was the next evening when the collar, harness, and leash arrived. The last thing I'd been able to successfully teach Void was the sign for bathroom and right in time too because he'd needed to go. I would have to figure out a way for him to use the bathroom on his own though - most likely I would need to get steps up to the toilet and a small seat he could put on that would allow him to go without my help.

By time the package arrived, I'd also been able to get Void to understand the food sign as I would show him the sign and then produce his bottle to him. Part of the weaponizing that had been done to him meant that his body only processed liquids. Half of his digestive tract had been replaced with what the vet had assumed was the reason the water healed him almost instantly. There was unfamiliar things inside of his body that the Krovlotts had implanted there to turn him into a weapon, but unless something threatened his health, I would not put him under surgery to figure out the extent of what they'd done.

Since it was so late, I waited until the next day before trying to fit the items onto Void. I knew he wouldn't mind whatever I did to him as long as it didn't hurt him, but I still felt guilty. It was like I couldn't understand why he so readily trusted me even though I knew the reason he trusted me. I'd saved him and he'd given me his full trust, but at what cost?

"Void!" I called gently, as the human hybrid had been in the living room, watching a murder mystery show on the computer through my TVMagic account.

He ran over to me quickly and smiled up at me. I picked him up at sat him on the dining table. One thing I had noticed was how he never seemed to leave his blanket anywhere. He had it wrapped around his lower body all the time. I knew humans wore protective clothing on Earth, I just hadn't thought of it until recently. Maybe I'd have to get something for him to wear, once again specially made.

"This is a collar." I held up the soft material and Void stared at it. He looked back at me and I smiled gently. I knew he couldn't understand me, but he seemed to read body language very easily. I unclasped the collar and wrapped it around it neck, clasping it behind him. I already had tags on the collar due to having been to the vet twice before and the dark red material stood out against his pale skin. He reached up and tugged on the collar, making a small whining sound. "I know it's new, but you'll have to get used to it." The harness didn't bother him as much as the collar, but I struggled to figure out how it clasped and fit onto his body. The wide soft peice went in between his wings and there were four straps that went to the front. The top two went up and over his shoulders while the bottom two went around his sides and they met together with a separate peice of wide fabric that covered his sternum and clasped to each strap.

When that was over with, Void watched closely and I could tell he was thinking by the way his head was barely tilted to the right. He blew out a rough breath as I put him back on the floor and went back to the living room, his wings sagging as he kept messing with the collar. I shook my head. At least he seemed to be at home here, that's all I could ask for.